Generally speaking a thermal print head (TPH) is a consumable product sold by thermal printer manufacturer companies. Each printer may have a set of compatible TPHs which are exclusively sold by the printer manufacturer. This may mean that no third parties are accepted in the printer.
Nevertheless, there may be a side market which sells unauthorized TPHs at a cheaper price and which may be recognized to be a valid and compatible TPH by the printer in spite of various security measures that may be incorporated in the printer. These security measures may be intended to prevent the use of unauthorized THPs in the printer. The unauthorized THPs may represent a direct loss of sales for the printer company since they are not selling their own proprietary TPHs.
In addition, placing an unauthorized TPH inside the printer may represent a certain level of risk (poor performance, electrical damage to the printer, etc. . . . ) for the user since the unauthorized TPH was not qualified to work properly with the printer.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that may prevent the use of unauthorized TPHs in a printer.